Meditation, Exercise and Rest
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Summary: Struggling with a lapse in her morning routine and spiritual connection, the author has rekindled her desire for meditation. Guided by her ADHD coach’s advice on holistic health, the author is easing in with two-minute sessions three times a week. The author is also revising her exercise routine with weights, swimming, and daily rebounding and also prioritising rest.
Here’s my next quick diary entry for what’s going on in my healing journey right now.
Morning Routine And Meditation
My beautiful morning routine died a death a short while ago. I think it was about the start of October. I had a few late nights that required me to rest rather than get up at 5.30am and then it just didn’t restart. To be honest, I think it was something deeper than that. I hit a kind of spiritual wall. My faith seemed to trickle away. I was left just wondering what the point of these practices were. I didn’t meditate. I didn’t pray. There was no communication with God. I felt isolated from my faith and my beliefs so I just mothballed my meditation space. It all felt stagnant and a bit barren. But the desire seems to be returning.
Two things have happened to aid my spiritual regeneration. Firstly, I have started seeing an ADHD coach. She has been emphasising how nutrition, sleep, exercise and meditation are all crucial, crucial, CRUCIAL for managing ADHD. I think I do fairly well with my nutrition, sleep and exercise but I’m definitely hearing that my meditation needs to be stepped up. Secondly, I have found multiple studies (including this one in the highly respected journal Nature) that show that meditation can modestly improve my hypertension.
I used to regularly meditate for 20 minutes each morning. I am not going to expect myself to get straight back to that. I will build up slowly. So, to start with, I am aiming for two minutes of meditation three times per week. I’m making it so achievable that not doing it will be hard to achieve…!
Exercise
My exercise has now stepped up another level. My weekly exercise routine now consists of two weightlifting sessions to build muscle, two swimming sessions for aerobic fitness, and walking every morning to help improve my hypertension. I also rebound for 20 minutes once per day for lymphatic drainage and detoxification purposes.
Resting
I spoke in my last ‘Notes from the Workshop’ post about how exhausted I have become. My body is in need of rest. I have started to incorporate rest into my daily practices. To be honest, I’m not finding it easy. I have to be really disciplined and often have to mentally fight myself to stop being on the go all the time. I hope that incorporating more meditation into my life will also hope.
Bye for now!
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Natalie is a blogger with Type 1 Diabetes. Natalie's special gifts are questioning the status quo and being a rebel. She is using these gifts to question medical 'knowledge' and find a true cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
